Newly completed Royal Victoria Court offers hope and affordable homes in Newport

The new community of Royal Victoria Court in Newport is now complete, with 528 homes being enjoyed by its residents. Delivered by Tirion Homes, in partnership with Lovell and Welsh Government, the development offers opportunities for people to set down roots in a vibrant new neighbourhood.

Formerly the Whiteheads steelworks site, the £100m development, provides half of the community with much-needed affordable homes. Tirion is providing affordable homes for families and individuals who are struggling to secure a stable living environment in the traditional housing market or who could be facing the prospect of homelessness

This includes the Everitt family, who had been privately renting for more than 15 years, but after their private landlord sold their home, were at risk of homelessness, and Royal Victoria Court offered hope in the form of a new home. Now, the family of four, have been able to begin a new chapter as part of the new community.

Paul Everitt commented, “The stress the landlord selling our previous home caused was immense. The time it took for us to apply through Tirion Homes and be approved for the rental was amazingly quick and, the support we had throughout was fantastic. We don’t have the worry of our home being sold from under our feet or the need to move again, and we settled in the day we moved in.”

To celebrate the completion of Royal Victoria Court, Jayne Bryant MS, in her constituency role, and Jessica Morden MP, visited the development and met Paul [Everitt] to see first hand the positive impact that has been made on the local area, and Newport as a whole.

David Ward, chief executive for Tirion Homes said, “It was a pleasure to welcome Jayne and Jessica to Royal Victoria Court and showcase the incredible achievement of our now completed community. Regeneration of sites, such as former steelworks, is an essential step in accelerating the delivery of much-needed high quality affordable homes across Wales. It’s why our ongoing partnership with Welsh Government is critical to continue creating communities that our residents are proud to call home.

“A massive thank you to Paul and his family, for sharing their story with us, Jayne and Jessica, as part of the visit. Being able to hear from someone who has been given a new start because of our homes shows the real difference that we are making to people’s lives. We hope that our communities across South Wales will have a similar impact.”

Royal Victoria Court and its community was created as tenure blind, meaning it includes a mix of housing tenure options fostering a diverse community, ensuring more families and families have access to homes; whether that is home ownership or through rental.

Jayne Bryant MS added,

“As Member of the Senedd for Newport West, it was lovely to visit to Royal Victoria Court in Pill to see and learn more about the development. I first visited in March 2022 when it was a building site, so it was great to be able to go back and see the progress of over 500 affordable homes.

“Hearing directly from residents about how their positive experience has helped them to resettle into a family home in this growing community was heartening as the local MS.”

This was echoed by Jessica Morden MP, who said, “It was good to hear directly from Paul about his experience with Tirion Homes and to hear first-hand about how Royal Victoria Court is such a lovely place to live, fostering an all-important sense of community already.

“Walking around the development, I was also pleased to hear about how the Welsh Government’s Help to Buy Wales scheme is helping families in Newport to get a foot on the property ladder at Royal Victoria Court.”

The development, over the course of its build and completion, created more than 850 jobs, including 106 apprenticeship placements, stimulating the local economy.

For more information about the scheme, visit www.royalvictoriacourt.co.uk